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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Have you seen the new Bodyform advert?

468 replies

Fairenuff · 03/07/2020 11:20

Just that really. Sorry if there's already a thread.

www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/bodyform-s-new-advert-breaks-period-advertising-taboos/vi-BB16hTmF?ocid=msedgdhp

OP posts:
SocialConnection · 04/07/2020 07:00

I feel Bodyform have got it right. They talk about women and girls on their website, and they include a trans boy in their articles.

The balance in their messaging works for me - women & girls including trans men & boys menstruate. Not all of us do, though, because pregnancy, menopause etc. Works for me.

I haven't found a single criticism from a TRA/MRA point of view. Anyone point me to any?

And pleased to say I'm post all that fertility business, and my product of choice has for several years been Bodyform So Slim Liners - teeny 💞

Blossom513 · 04/07/2020 07:33

The actual advert - I was thinking is there anything they can really criticise? I've only watched it once so may have missed bits but does the advert have 'woman' written anywhere? It's usually the word and language they object to. They can't really say 'men have wombs too' because it doesn't say anything about women in the ad so it wouldn't make sense. At first this disappointed me slightly that they couldn't be brave enough to say women in their ad, but then I though the advert is so obviously about women it doesn't matter and at least it can't detract from it. So maybe it was intentional to stop backlash. I'd like to think Bodyform knew exactly what they were doing.

They could object to the press release but I don't think that has been linked on Twitter.

dudsville · 04/07/2020 07:44

That's a beautiful add about sanpro. Never thought i'd say those words together.

BraveGoldie · 04/07/2020 07:48

@Beebeet (and others), thank you for your thoughtful response. I am with you and agree - much better to be realistic about the challenges of being a woman and very important we talk about these things so we feel less lost, alone or stigmatized when we experience them.

Actually this thread is helping me to learn too (I just googled endometriosis and statistics on miscarriage and sterilization, which I haven't looked at for a long time). I am exceptionally lucky with this part of my womanhood. My period is regular and lasts two days, with virtually no discomfort, and isn't too heavy. My mood changes from a bit tense to a relaxed feel as soon as the blood starts flowing. I always welcome it as a sign of not being pregnant (even though I take precautions) and the one time I did want to be pregnant, all that went smoothly. I am actually very sad at the thought of it stopping through menopause. I have occasionally thought that I am probably on the lucky side, but now realize that it is something bigger than that - more of an unseen privilege not to have this part of my biology a constant burden or source of pain. I guess this is something like the equivalent of walking through wheat fields compared to many women, including the heart-wrenching accounts on this thread.

I am glad you are seeing your stories being represented, and absolutely agree there should be no sugar-coating around these experiences to make others more comfortable.

I still might show my dd something else first though!! But I will be sure to tell her that it may not all be roller skating!!

Beebeet · 04/07/2020 07:51

Definitely a good plan @BraveGoldie, you know your daughter best, and the one way approach in schools doesn't recognise the difference in children (if that makes sense).

derta · 04/07/2020 08:10

Wow that advert was great, I laughed & shed a tear!

MrsCollinssettled · 04/07/2020 08:11

The ad industry press say it's going to be on tv, YouTube and social media

SophocIestheFox · 04/07/2020 08:15

I loved it, and am still snivelling a bit from watching it. Must be very dusty in here 😬

It spoke to me about my experiences, and I am usually massively cynical about all advertising, it makes me react like the attached pic.

But this, I liked. I don’t think it makes womanhood look shit, I think it makes it look powerful- a dark power sometimes, maybe. But most of all I think it looks real.

Have you seen the new Bodyform advert?
ladyvimes · 04/07/2020 08:25

It’s bloody brilliant!!

Prawnofthepatriarchy · 04/07/2020 08:30

I loved it, absolutely loved it. I seldom cry but it had me in floods.

It is a beautiful depiction of the realities of inhabiting a female body. That this should be so unusual is very sad. But in the face of the relentless misogyny we face today it was wonderful to see something so truthful about women's lives.

I've been active on Twitter, thanking all those involved and drawing attention to the film.

echodot · 04/07/2020 08:33

@poppym12

Fabulous. Thanks for the link. Hell, if I hadn't finished my periods I'd be stocking up on Bodyform products!
Me too!! I'm a bit jealous of all these new products!
TornadoOfSouls · 04/07/2020 09:17

‘I’m not crying/It’s just raining on my face‘

Phenomenal advert.

And who's ever been taken by surprise by dripping blood on the floor?

Me!

I felt such relief watching this ad, it felt like respite in the current storm of misogyny. Bodyform deserves all the profit they can make if you ask me.

seven201 · 04/07/2020 09:19

I'm a woman who has many scars on her tummy like the ones showed. I'm also doing ivf, next try is next month. My periods are average I'd say. I do have one naturally conceived dd. I love this advert as it covers the whole spectrum. I'd like to show it to my secondary aged students during PSHE. I will be buying some Bodyform products now!

Hoppinggreen · 04/07/2020 09:27

I told my 15 year old DD to watch it and she said “ wow Mum, somebody actually gets it”
Obviously she’s too young to have experienced some of what’s in the video but she certainly identified with the unexpected bleeding and period pains and only dark clothes for 2 weeks a month

Thisismytimetoshine · 04/07/2020 09:32

wow Mum, somebody actually gets it”
Did she really think nobody "got it"? Confused. All those millions of women having periods every day?

FedUpWithBriiiiick · 04/07/2020 09:37

@MaryRaddy thanks for the music tip-off , was wondering this myself!

celebgoss101 · 04/07/2020 09:42

Loved it. I changed to bodyform a couple of years ago and they are so much better than always which has this over perfumed weird smell.

I think the sex is important too as I took it as she was on her period and there is still a lot of people who feel this is gross. That's their right but its good to challenge that thinking.

Also we should show that for some women periods are horrific and a bit of period pain can be like a migraine that people treat like a headache.

I'm 40 now and I wanted kids but it wasn't to be, I realised the other month of also meant my periods had been a waste of time and I got quite annoyed ! Ha

Not sure if anyone is watching it but in I may destroy you there is period sex scene which is really well done.

Michelleoftheresistance · 04/07/2020 09:56

Did she really think nobody "got it"?

She's grown up in the past few years in a world where nobody talks about it. A world where women aren't allowed to wear pussy hats in claiming their biology and taking the mickey out of sexual abuse because it's upsetting to a small group of males to remind them that half the human race has female biology. Where owning female biology is a secret we're not supposed to mention or talk about, not something we share or a source of empowerment or a focus of class based lived experience. Because too upsetting and excluding to a small group of males. We're just about allowed to have dehumanising, very medicalised terms like 'uterus haver' or better still 'non prostate haver', to ensure no class based thinking that might rock the boat.

Fuck. That.

This thread is full of females feeling seen and heard for the first time in a long time, it's a very rare experience these days.

Sunkisses · 04/07/2020 10:00

Sorry if already been mentioned (not had time to read all the comments) but in the Bodyform press release it does use dehumanising language. It says "More than 800 million people menstruate every single day". That would be 800 million women and girls then Hmm

Ninkanink · 04/07/2020 10:15

@Michelleoftheresistance

Did she really think nobody "got it"?

She's grown up in the past few years in a world where nobody talks about it. A world where women aren't allowed to wear pussy hats in claiming their biology and taking the mickey out of sexual abuse because it's upsetting to a small group of males to remind them that half the human race has female biology. Where owning female biology is a secret we're not supposed to mention or talk about, not something we share or a source of empowerment or a focus of class based lived experience. Because too upsetting and excluding to a small group of males. We're just about allowed to have dehumanising, very medicalised terms like 'uterus haver' or better still 'non prostate haver', to ensure no class based thinking that might rock the boat.

Fuck. That.

This thread is full of females feeling seen and heard for the first time in a long time, it's a very rare experience these days.

This.
Shedbuilder · 04/07/2020 10:15

I emailed Jessica Lindsay who wrote the editorial in the Metro. Jessica had managed to write a couple of hundred words about the advert without mentioning women. The words 'woman' and 'women' do occur in the article, but only where Jessica was quoting the Bodyform marketing manager or the Bodyform survey results, when she couldn't get away with removing them. I accused her of erasing women.

She responded:
I am not trying to erase women - I am one. Instead, I used added descriptors so that the many people who have periods (including trans men and nonbinary people) feel included under this umbrella alongside women.

I've asked her to define non-binary. I'm pretty sure as a lesbian involved in the construction industry I would be classified as non-binary. I mean, proper women don't know what I know about drainage and renewables and engineering, so I must be halfway to being a bloke, mustn't I? And strangely, not at all offended by mention of women and bleeding...

ItsSummer · 04/07/2020 10:22

@Thisismytimetoshine

wow Mum, somebody actually gets it” Did she really think nobody "got it"? Confused. All those millions of women having periods every day?
Glad I wasn’t the only one to think similar.
ItsSummer · 04/07/2020 10:24

@Michelleoftheresistance

Did she really think nobody "got it"?

She's grown up in the past few years in a world where nobody talks about it. A world where women aren't allowed to wear pussy hats in claiming their biology and taking the mickey out of sexual abuse because it's upsetting to a small group of males to remind them that half the human race has female biology. Where owning female biology is a secret we're not supposed to mention or talk about, not something we share or a source of empowerment or a focus of class based lived experience. Because too upsetting and excluding to a small group of males. We're just about allowed to have dehumanising, very medicalised terms like 'uterus haver' or better still 'non prostate haver', to ensure no class based thinking that might rock the boat.

Fuck. That.

This thread is full of females feeling seen and heard for the first time in a long time, it's a very rare experience these days.

Hasn’t it always been thus in some way or other?
Hoppinggreen · 04/07/2020 12:04

thisismytime and itssummer she suffers from very painful periods and it seems poorly understood in general
Thanks for being snarky about a 15 year old though

DuDuDuLangaLangaBingBong · 04/07/2020 12:20

As a woman who is just at the beginning of the hot flushes stage (and who’s eldest child turned 20 this very week) I have to admit there is a tear in my eye too. Perhaps it’s just relief?

Perfect combination of funny and moving, unflinching in the face of difficult experiences- do I dare share it with my recently desisted 13 year stepdaughter or is it too much right now?

And yes, the lesbian birth story was truly beautiful!